Customer Reviews

War Letters: Extraordinary Correspondence from American Wars

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Let me start this review by confessing that I am biased. One of my letters from Vietnam is included in the book. I therefore view the book differently from the average reader.

I also got an advance copy of the book a week before the official release date, and have been able to read it.

Andrew Carroll produced this book by reading through almost 50,000 letters and selected roughly 200 that best show what everyday life in the military - and in war - are like from the viewpoint of the average soldier, sailor, marine, and airman.

Andy was able to get these letters by persuading Dear Abby to publish an appeal in her column on Veteran's Day in 1998. The column urged readers to contribute these letters so that the sacrifices of the writers would not be forgotten. The result was a flood of 50,000 letters - some faded, some muddy, some blood-stained, and one pierced by a bullet. One letter was written on Hitler's personal stationary by an American sergeant who worked in Hitler's personal quarters in Germany just after WW II. What could be a better symbol of justice?

The letter writers' views are very different than the views you will get by reading the memoirs of a general or an admiral. When I was in the Army, there was a wonderful comment that explained life in the Infantry:

"The general gets the glory, The family gets the body, and We get another mission."

Your view of the military - and of war - changes depending on your position in this food chain.

Overcoming an enemy machine gun is an interesting technical problem when you are circling a firefight in a helicopter at 1,000 feet. You take a very different view of the problem when you are so close to the machine gun that your body pulses from the shock wave of the muzzle blast.

These letters were written by soldiers while they were in the military. They are describing events that happened that day, the pervious day, or the previous week. Their memories are very fresh. Their views also are very different from the views that someone might have when writing his memoirs thirty years later. In thirty years the everyday pains, problems, and terrors could very well be forgotten or become humorous.

The book groups these letters by war or police action. There are sections for letters from the Civil War, WW I (the war to end wars), WW II, Vietnam War, Desert Storm, and Somolia/Bosnia/Kosovo.

Some things never change. The Civil War letter writers grumble about poor food, tiresome marches, mindless sergeants and incompetent officers. The Vietnam letter writers (myself included) grumbled about the same things.

One anguished letter was from an officer in Vietnam who was torn by his need to hide his opposition to the war for fear of demoralizing his men. At the end of the letter is a brief comment explaining that the officer stepped on a mine and died shortly after writing this letter.

Welcome to life in the military. Welcome to war.

You should read this book if you want to see what life was like and is like in the military and in war.

Let me start this review by confessing that I am biased. One of my letters from Vietnam is included in the book. I therefore view the book differently from the average reader.

I also got an advance copy of the book a week before the official release date, and have been able to read it.

Andrew Carroll produced this book by reading through almost 50,000 letters and selected roughly 200 that best show what everyday life in the military - and in war - are like from the viewpoint of the average soldier, sailor, marine, and airman.

Andy was able to get these letters by persuading Dear Abby to publish an appeal in her column on Veteran's Day in 1998. The column urged readers to contribute these letters so that the sacrifices of the writers would not be forgotten. The result was a flood of 50,000 letters - some faded, some muddy, some blood-stained, and one pierced by a bullet. One letter was written on Hitler's personal stationary by an American sergeant who worked in Hitler's personal quarters in Germany just after WW II. What could be a better symbol of justice?

The letter writers' views are very different than the views you will get by reading the memoirs of a general or an admiral. When I was in the Army, there was a wonderful comment that explained life in the Infantry:

"The general gets the glory, The family gets the body, and We get another mission."

Your view of the military - and of war - changes depending on your position in this food chain.

Overcoming an enemy machine gun is an interesting technical problem when you are circling a firefight in a helicopter at 1,000 feet. You take a very different view of the problem when you are so close to the machine gun that your body pulses from the shock wave of the muzzle blast.

These letters were written by soldiers while they were in the military. They are describing events that happened that day, the pervious day, or the previous week. Their memories are very fresh. Their views also are very different from the views that someone might have when writing his memoirs thirty years later. In thirty years the everyday pains, problems, and terrors could very well be forgotten or become humorous.

The book groups these letters by war or police action. There are sections for letters from the Civil War, WW I (the war to end wars), WW II, Vietnam War, Desert Storm, and Somolia/Bosnia/Kosovo.

Some things never change. The Civil War letter writers grumble about poor food, tiresome marches, mindless sergeants and incompetent officers. The Vietnam letter writers (myself included) grumbled about the same things.

One anguished letter was from an officer in Vietnam who was torn by his need to hide his opposition to the war for fear of demoralizing his men. At the end of the letter is a brief comment explaining that the officer stepped on a mine and died shortly after writing this letter.

Welcome to life in the military. Welcome to war.

You should read this book if you want to see what life was like and is like in the military and in war.

This set of CD's runs well over six hours, and I don't recommend doing it all in one setting. I did one a day, a felt like I got a wonderful- if that's the right word- walk through some of the most brutal wars our country has been involved in. I listened with my son, who is just starting to study the civil war in school, and found it to be a wonderful study aid- it brought up questions and perked his curiousity in certain areas that a simple textbook could never hope to do.

The readings themselves are quite wonderful. Harry Smith narrates, and then you hear the actual letters read by a group of some of the best actors I've heard on audio books- Joan Allen, David Strathairn, Eric Stoltz, Campbell Scott and Edward Hermann. Apparently Rob Lowe also read some, but I couldn't tell which voice was his. In any case, the readings are simple and heartfelt, letting the words themselves sink in, and it's just terrific.

If you want your children to get an understanding of the true horrors of war, listen to this with them. It doesn't glamourize it like so many war movies, but explores a personal side that most kids never even consider.

I give it the highest rating possible.

There can hardly be anything more personal and poignant that WAR LETTERS. Love letters come close but the emotions that a person taps when remembering some buddy blown away, nights of fear from being under fire, or some family member far away, result in an outpouring of oneself onto paper that is the essence of humanity. The letters here run the gamut of human emotional expression: fear, anger, grief, joy, love, faith, hope, courage, humor. They are from every major war or engagement that the US has been in from the Civil War through to the Gulf War and finally Bosnia and Kosovo. Soldiers, their family members, journalists, doctors and nurses, all have something to say to someone else that suddenly seems very important in the shadow of war.

If you step back from the emotional impact for a moment and look at this book objectively, the the appeal of these letters and the willingness of the writers or recipients to make them public, may seem a bit puzzling. Afterall, they are all very personal letters. The mystery is removed when you realize that it's not a coincidence that these letters are singularly American; I doubt there would be such an equivalent public sharing from citizens elsewhere. Our openess is sometimes called American bravado and exhibitionism by others, but as these letters of humanity plainly show, they are more properly seen as simple testaments to honesty and truth.

I for one am proud of a country that appreciates such human expressions but am even more proud of the many men and women who served or waited for those who did, and whose stories are told here. They, more than most of us, can appreciate the following sentiments.

"Everything that I have written is closely related to something that I have lived through." (Henrik Ibsen)

I was given this book by my daughter, and I had read from it from time to time. It is in fact a book that very much lends itself to that sort of intermittent reading, as the letters stand well enough on their own and are not part of any particular plot or developing idea. However, when my audiobook account had a balance on it that had to be used, I decided to download this book and have the letters read to me. With more than a dozen readers of excellent quality, and given the wonderful selection of the letters themselves, the narration occupied several days of my commute in a bittersweet but overall pleasant manner.

I was in the bookstore, walking around aimlessly when War Letters caught my eye. I turned to a random page, and started reading, within seconds my eyes started to water. I am not a a big fan of war, but I am a huge fan of the war hero. Men and Woman, that put their lives on the line so we can live the way we do. This book gives you first hand info of just that.
I am 30 years old. It's sad to say, but my generation gets most of its knowledge of American wars from the movies. The Civil War is hardly ever a topic. Thanks to this book, I am learning a lot more than I remember being taught in school, about the Civil War.

The review section for this book will be glowing and overrun by 4 and 5 star reviews I'm sure, but I so enjoyed reading this that I thought I would add my gratitude to the pile. As obviously stated, the book is composed of approximately 200 letters and correspondances sent during wars in American History, ranging across 5 chapters and spanning 140 years of warfare in and involving the United States. The chapters are divided into "The Civil War", "World War I", "World War II", "The Korean War & The Cold War", and "The Vietnam War, The Persian Gulf War, Somalia, & Bosnia".

Put together and transcribed by the editor, Andrew Carroll, the book was started as something called The Legacy Project, dedicated to preserving letters of war correspondance throughout the course of American history. The project was initially started when a fire in Carroll's home consumed all of his family letters dating back through history, making him realize that the preservation of such materials must be started on a larger scale effort, and prompting Abigail Van Buren to post in her "Dear Abby" column, a request for such letters. As expected, Carroll's mailbox overflowed, and 200 of the finest letters he received are published here.

The correspondances range from soldiers in the battlefield writing home to their loved ones, wives, children, girlfriends, and friends, to family members updating soldiers on what is going on back on the homefront. Letters by Army-type and government celebrities such as President George Bush, Richard Nixon, General George S. Patton, General William Tecumsah Sherman, Julia Childs, Helen Keller, and numerous others can be found here, but most of the book is comprised of letters written by soldiers who were simple men serving their country.

The writings are in their original form, unedited and without corrections, such as to show the personality of the writer and the conditions/stress under which the letters were written. While many are comforting and consoling as soldiers write love letters and those of reassurance back home, a great number show the fear, suspense, and horror of battle, while many of them describe death, being wounded, and the physical horrors of war in graphic detail. The fact that these men took the time to chronicle these events and the editor took it upon himself to organize and get recognition for them gives a great sense of appreciation.

While many letters written during the Civil War are difficult to read due to the high rate of illiteracy and low rate of education then, these traits reflect the stress and time period of when they were written. Those written in World War II and Vietnam are the longest and most grueling, with their graphic details about mens death in battle, and the horrors of the concentration camps. The sections on Somalia and Bosnia are the shortest, but enough to give the reader a detailed look into the real situations that occurred there. Those written during The Cold War period are more political than anything else, and one of the only sections than touches the politics of war more than anything else.

A small number of letters leave the subject of actual battle, such as ones chronicling the Kent State shootings, ones discussing reflections on the war after being home, and several prophetic letters written before war was declared, discussing the writers thoughts of the escalating situations.

Each letter contains an explanation of the situation, the writer, and the historical events surrounding the war going on, and finally explains the fate of the writer, i.e. whether they returned home alive or not, or how their fate was met.

More than anything, "War Letters" gives one a sense of pride to be an American and to have such a military that has laid down, and continues to lay down, numerous sacrifices for the good of its country. I only appreciate the freedom this country has fought for even more after reading "War Letters", and have a great sense of pride in the countrys military. I highly recommend this to anyone, especially those who appreciate and indulge in history or need a crash course on the REAL side of war and its effects. 5 stars.

Reading these letters is a bit like finding a stack of correspondence in your attic and getting to snoop on someone's old declarations of love or fear. I bought the book because an old family friend is among the soldiers with a letter in this book. The letters make for fascinating reading, after which you sort of gulp and read the italicized copy hoping to find that THIS soldier did not die in action. Too many did. I was surprised to find that the more recent letters (Vietnam and Gulf War) were the most interesting to me. For whatever reason, they seemed more morally complex and sympathetic. Great book.

"War Letters: Extraordinary Corrspondence from American Wars" is an amazing anthology. Edited by Andrew Carroll and featuring an introduction by Douglas Brinkley, this book brings together a wide range of letters written by military personnel, nurses, family members, and others who have been part of the wars fought by the United States from the Civil War onward. The book is divided into several sections: "The Civil War"; "World War I"; "World War II"; "The Korean War & The Cold War"; and "The Vietnam War, The Persian Gulf War, Somalia, and Bosnia."

Editor Carroll has been quoted as calling these letters "this nation's great undiscovered literature." In his foreword, Brinkley gives probably the best description of the content of these letters: "impassioned evocations of love and sacrifice, duty and honor, fear and confusion, courage and perseverance, rage and the intimations of mortality that spark it." The letters are mostly by ordinary people, but the letters of some famous individuals are included. There are letters from both men and women, and from people of various ethnic backgrounds.

Enhancing the book is the presence of many historic photographs, as well as facsimiles of some of the letters. Probably the most extraordinary photograph is that of a letter pierced by a scorched bullet hole (the soldier, who was unharmed, was carrying the letter in his backpack when he got shot).

It is not really possible in a short review to cover all of the remarkable highlights of this anthology. But some letters that particularly struck me: the angry, frustrated rant of an anonymous Union soldier from the Civil War; a letter by an African-American soldier serving in the Union army during the Civil War; General John Pershing's letter praising African-American soldiers who served in World War I; a Red Cross nurse's touching letter of condolence to the mother of a soldier who died during wartime; an eyewitness account of the attack on Pearl Harbor; an amazing letter from Adolf Hitler's nephew, Patrick, to Franklin D. Roosevelt; a letter from a Japanese-American woman who was placed in an internment camp; and a letter from a real-life "Rosie the Riveter."

The letters are accompanied by supplemental notes that put them in historical and personal perspective. This is a wonderful book that offers some very human perspectives on history.

This book is awesome, I have read it numerous times. My heart goes out to the letters writers and receivers... I urge you to spread the word of this book... It will really open your eyes to see that Military Personel and their signifigant others are real people, with real feelings... I really look forward to another book like this coming out. I will definately buy it.